Spice management has become something of an issue in my house. I’ve been belly aching for weeks that I need to consolidate and re-organize my 60+ spices. Now that our TV is turned off for the month, extra time has materialized, and this weekend, I dug into my spice cabinets to take inventory and clean up. Not only was it productive, it inspired me to think about some new recipes to share with you and it gave me the answer to the question I’ve been asked a bunch of times recently… what are my favorite spices from Penzeys?

My Favorite Penzeys Spices

At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a complete list of everything in my spice cabinet – but to help you stock your own spice cabinet, here are my favorite individual spices and blends.

Individual SpicesThese are the spices that come up in my recipes most often. If you have these at your disposal, you should have what you need to make lots of tasty recipes.

Bay Leaf: adds depth to stews and braised meatsCardamom: key ingredient in coconut curries (usually along with coriander; you want at least one of the two)Cayenne: adds a little to heat to just about anythingChili Powder: for chili and Tex-Mex foodChinese Five Spice Powder: for stir fry sauce and paleo egg foo yungChives: for scrambled eggs, steamed veggies, and creamy salad dressingsCinnamon: must-haveCocoa: for chiliCoriander, ground: for coconut curriesCumin, ground: for Middle Eastern and Tex-Mex dishes. Also: MY. FAVORITE. SPICE.Garlic Powder: for everythingGinger, ground: for coconut curriesMaharajah Curry Powder: for curry fried f’rice and egg saladMint, dried: for salads and Middle Eastern dishesMustard, ground: for homemade mayoOregano: for everything ItalianPaprika: for Moroccan, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European dishesPepper, black: for everythingRed pepper, crushed: for Italian and Asian dishesSea Salt: for everythingThyme, dried: for veggies (esp. green beans). Cajun food, and scrambled eggs

Penzeys Blends
These are the pre-made blends from Penzeys that I find myself reaching for again and again.

How I Organize My Spices

The mix-and-match jars were too difficult to manage – and because I buy many of my spices in bulk (4 or 8 oz. bags from Penzeys or the bulk aisle at the supermarket, I need “overflow” storage. Also: I HATE that a tablespoon measure won’t fit in the mouth of most spice jars. I mean, really? Are you kidding me with that spinkle top?!

So… I bought 1-pint an 1/2-pint mason jars and transferred most of my spices and blends to the jars. I labeled them, then obsessively made a list of all of them so when I look at a recipe, it will be easy for me to check if I have the spice in my kitchen. (I have two giant bags of whole coriander seeds because I didn’t know I already had a giant bag of coriander seeds. I’m pretty sure I’m set for life in the coriander seed department.)

Let’s take a look:

Spice overflow. This could use a better box, but it's working for now.

My "Primary" spice shelf. The jars are on lazy-susans so I can spin 'em to find what I need.

My "Secondary" spice shelf with tiny sample jars from Penzeys and things that get used in small quantities. On the right of the top shelf are new additions that I haven't tried yet. Who knows if they deserve a permanent mason jar + label?!

My master spice list, inside my secondary spice cabinet. The paper on the right is a list of recipe spice blends I use a lot. I'M. A. NERD.

So there you have it: more than you wanted to know about the spices in my kitchen.

Yes, the pizza seasoning has some sugar. I’ve decided that I don’t care… but everyone needs to decide for themselves. I use it in such small quantities that the sugar is, to me, negligible. However, if you want to make your own pizza seasoning without sugar, this is pretty good (although, to my chagrin, not as good as Penzeys):

Ever since we started eating paleo and cooking everyday, I have struggled with what to do with my ever increasing collection of spices (they quickly overflowed from their little spice rack home). I love your little jars on lazy susans – I may have to try that one! Thank you for the great list too – will definitely be trying out some of those blends.

Huzzah! I love Penzey’s. The Tsardust Memories is awesome on pork chops! And I am jealous you live near an HEB Central Market. I only get to visit the Houston one when I am home. Otherwise, can’t complain: we have a Penzey’s in downtown Seattle.

What kind of paprika do you have? Might I suggest, if it is not this one, that you try some Spanish smoked paprika? The flavor is awesome, and it goes on lots of things, whether animal or vegetable! One of my faves is over roasted broccoli with some ghee… Mmhmm!

I have lots of spices too. I used a labeler to label the covers of them and place them in low baskets (sort of like a 9×13 cake pan) in my cabinets. That way I can slide the basket out and get what I need without digging through stuff.

Wow! This was a bit funny but also awe-inspiring. I totally give you a thumbs-up for being so organized – it makes a lot of sense and no doubt makes your life easier, which is a no-brainer when you think about it. Being a nerd rocks.

[…] by Mel over at The Clothes Make the Girl, who uses spices like no one else. Here is a post on her amazing spice collection. The use of spices is a cheap, easy and delicious way to totally transform your meals. I’m […]

I think I’m in love with you. Just found you from a few sources all in one day–Amazon, Everyday Paleo blog–and am so glad I did; your tagline alone puts into words a lot of things I’ve been striving for. (And you also face similar obstacles to me–right down to the Corporate Overlord Job. They DO pay rather nicely, though, don’t they? And on time, and everything?)

Subscribing in Google Reader and reading obsessively from now on.

And just a tip about those spices: I’m very near to investigating an RFID system for all my foods, and maybe an automatic reader. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could take inventory like a store does, just by bringing the barcode into the house? As a first step, I’m attempting to hack this with Amazon’s tools. Thoughts? I’m an engineering-type nerd, though, so this is right up my alley–what kind of nerd are you?

I recently left my corporate overlord and am now my own overlord. WOOT! It’s been a pretty amazing transition, and I’m super excited because it means more time for quality blogging, recipe development, and cookbook writing.

OMG! A barcode on my spices would make me weep with joy. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

There’s always that weird code thing they have for smart phones now. I think you can even create your own. It’d save tons on equipment, I think…

I SO NEED to organize the spice cabinet. It’s literally a cabinet, one of those particleboard jobs that’s about as tall as I am (about 5’6″ or 5’7″). Belongs to the other adult in the house, and he’s terrible at organization.

I’m picky though. So terribly picky. I used to grow herbs as a hobby, and it’s appalling to me just how *old* so many herbs and spices are by the time they’re sold in the grocery store. Bay leaves seem to be the worst, but they’re not by far the only. (Bay leaves should look darker green and glossy, believe it or not. Ever seen them like that in a store? Didn’t think so…)

I think a large part of the problem is how they’re stored, more than the age. They’re often stored in plastic, and even when they’re in glass, the glass is crystal clear, all the better to let in all that UV light and degrade the plant materials. It is not like you need a whole lot of herb or spice per meal, so this can be a problem eventually.

So. I was thinking stainless-steel containers if I get around to fixing the mess in the spice cabinet. But I’d be happy if they just had brown or blue Mason jars. Have yet to find any. It makes me sad.

I really love your cookbook. One problem though is finding a prepared Chinese 5 spice powder that includes star anise, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds as you list in the book. I have searched high and low – on the net and various Asian stores and other specialty shops in my area to no avail. I finally resorted to making my own blend. I was able to get the Szechuan (Sichuan) peppercorns from The Spice House at a very reasonable price. It’s nice to have that spice on hand by itself. It is very unique and a wonderful addition to my spice cabinet. I’m not nearly as organized as you are but I’m well on my way to having everything you suggest on hand.

I also couldn’t resist getting some Jolokia “Ghost” peppers. Hot doesn’t begin to describe them but they also have a very unique flavor. Just a tiny slice along with the Szechuan peppercorns really spiced up the Chocolate Chile (my new favorite recipe). Guess you can tell I like things very hot and spicy!

Making your own spice blends is much more fun than buying them — good on you for tackling 5-spice. Love it!

You wouldn’t call me organized if you could see the state of my spice cabinets right now. I bought a bunch of new stuff, and it’s all in the plastic baggies it came in ’cause I’m out of room for jars. i need a separate shelving unit just for spices

I’d just like to throw out there for your Canadian fan base, there’s a site called silkroadspices.ca based out of Calgary which ships for waaaaaay cheaper than Penzey’s does to Canada. I ordered a really big order from Penzey’s before I discovered them, and the shipping was almost $100…where my order from silk road cost less than $10. Also, I found the quality to be a little notch up from Penzey’s and the bottles are beautiful. Only downfall is that they don’t have Tsardust Memories or Arizona Dreaming

This is a great post. I’ve been going a little crazy trying to figure out how to organize my spices now that I’m reaching for them more as I dabble in Paleo. Thanks! Unfortunately, we have no Penzey’s in Schuylkill County.

You should give fenugreek a try, it’s the secret umami of Indian food. I make all my own Indian spice blends based off the cookbook Vij’s Indian Cuisine. I’ve been meaning to sit down one weekend make some paleo friendly versions of his recipes. He does cover a lot about spices and how to increase the flavor through toasting and grinding your own.

I love this post, but I’m curious how you keep track of the age of your spices. Or do you not bother? I know that many last 2 or more years in ground form, but I know that over the years I have definitely gone past that with some I don’t use all that frequently. Obviously you use a lot more and more frequently than I do, though!

What about organic versus non organic? In the interest of eating clean, aren’t many or most herbs and spices sprayed with pesticides? Or the differences between organic cold pressed coconut oil and olive oil….is this more of a personal preference thing?

I buy my spices from Penzeys and Savory Spice Shop, and honestly, I’m not sure if they’re organic or not. I suppose I should pay more attention but I’ve reached overload on all the details of everything I put in my mouth

I always use unrefined coconut oil, but I don’t pay attention to cold pressed… sorry! I’m failing you miserably on these questions.

Stefanie –
I dont think cold pressing would be as important for coconut oil as it is for olive oil. Coconut oil is a saturated fat and therefore isn’t oxidized like the monounsaturated fats in olive oil under high temperatures. When mono and polyunsaturated fats are damaged by light, air and heat, they’re no longer good for you.

My favorite taco seasoning recipe has onion powder. I don’t see that in your list. Is onion powder something to be avoided? I did read somewhere that it always contains anti-caking agents. Any thoughts?

Great list… I have all of mun in bags from Central Market. I alphabetize and store them in plastic boxes. They take up the amount of room in of 2 shoe boxes. Makes a great wedding gift or house warming gift too.

Every 12 to 18 months I purge, and get all new spices that are over the age limit. my bends I make are in recycled jars… Enjoying your blog.

I am having so much fun wandering around your website. What a great post this is! I never thought of storing spices in mason jars… such a great idea. I am a spice hound too and I love the organization here. Storage space is a problem for me in our little house, so anything that saves space is wonderful! Love this! Just bought Well Fed 2. Thank you for making food prep so fun again!

The mason jars make it so much easier to scoop out tablespoons of spices. In our new house, I just took over a drawer for my spices and put the labels on the lids. We’ll see how that works over the long term. Thanks for buying Well Fed 2!

I bought both of your Well Fed cookbooks and with all the new spices, I needed a place to put them. My idea was to hot glue magnets to the spice containers and put them on the side of my refrigerator. Worked out great. So easy to find now. I love this.

Thank you for this list and the mason jar + label idea! Until starting my first Whole30 (halfway through now!), all of my Penzey’s spices were thrown in a drawer and it took forever to find some of the rarely used spices. Not to mention the whole small jar/measuring spoon issue. Just ordered small mason jars and 2 Lazy Susans to organize them on. You’re awesome! Thank you! Your blog and cookbooks have totally inspired me to keep this lifestyle going post-Whole30.

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